Grits and Groceries owners will end restaurant service, will step up catering and events

A large statue of a chicken is near the parking lot during lunch at Grits and Groceries in Belton on Wednesday. Heidi Trull, co-owner of Grits and Groceries in Belton, wants it well-known that she and her husband, Joe, are not closing the restaurant.(Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)

It’s been a great ride for 14 years, but now chefs Heidi and Joe Trull are planning the next one. The husband and wife team behind the Grits and Groceries restaurant in Belton, have decided to end daily service to focus more on events, farmers markets and catering.

While day-to-day operations will cease, the Trulls are careful not to use the word close when discussing their new future. They are restructuring their business and their lives, they say in a way that benefits both.

The changes mean the Trulls will focus on things like their upcoming Valentine’s Day dinner, expanding their wine dinner series and adding two more farmer’s markets to their roster. Plans also call for not only keeping the annual pie competition but for expanding it into a full day festival.

“We’re not leaving, we’re just kind of reformatting,” Heidi said. “I’ve been through all the stages of grief, making the decisions and getting ready for everything and now I’m in the stage of relief. We’ve made the decision, and this is what’s best for us.”

The decision to change their course comes over a year after the two chefs announced they were looking for buyers for their 2-acre property. In July 2017, Heidi confirmed the news but qualified it by saying it was not near.

Over the past year, the Trulls did have a pair of very interested buyers, young chefs, but ultimately, the funding didn’t come through, she says and so she and Joe opted to keep on.

But then, they looked at their numbers, an annual process the two do to ensure the health of their business. The numbers were OK, but not great, Heidi said. Business was strong, but rising costs related to food, insurance and shipping began to take a toll.

Last year, the restaurant spent $4,000 in fuel fees, Heidi said, an added fee associated with all deliveries they received. The fee was added three years ago when diesel prices skyrocketed.

“The things we would have to do to stay open were all the things we did not want to do – cut quality and open at night,” Heidi said. “So, we made the choice to restructure.”

The Trulls opened Grits and Groceries in the summer of 2005. At the time, the two, who’d grown up in the Carolinas had been cooking in some of the finer restaurants in New Orleans. Joe worked as a pastry chef for Emeril Lagasse and Heidi was chef and owner of the famed Elizabeth’s Restaurant.

But the couple decided to leave New Orleans for the Carolinas to be closer to family when their son, Tom, was born. Heidi recalls the logistics of opening Grits & Groceries with a six-month-old baby in tow.

“We had a full-time nanny and she would come over and I would breastfeed and go back to work,” Heidi said chuckling. “It was every hour and 45 minutes.”

Owner Heidi Truell flips burgers on the grill during lunch at Grits and Groceries in Belton on Wednesday. Heidi Trull, co-owner of Grits and Groceries in Belton, wants it well-known that she and her husband, Joe, are not closing the restaurant.(Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)

Over the years, Grits & Groceries has garnered local and national attention for the unique blend of refined culinary technique and attention to flavor and detail, within the keeping of Southern cooking traditions, what Heidi calls “eclectic soul food”. The restaurant famously only served lunch Tuesday through Friday, dinner only on Thursdays and brunch only on Saturdays, a strategic schedule which allowed the Trulls built-n work-life balance.

Reneging on that balance was not an option, Heidi said.

The Trulls began discussing strategy for the new year back in the summer. With the sale of the restaurant on hold and plans for an ice cream shop similarly stalled, they acted, with sadness but also assuredness.

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Seven of the eight full-time employees at Grits and Groceries have found other jobs, Heidi said, and she and Joe are excited to get even more creative and focused in the kitchen. She is already at work on catering menus, and Joe is preparing for farmers market season. Many of Grits and Groceries dishes will be available for sale at farmers markets.

Heidi will also continue her work as an SC Chef Ambassador, attending food festivals and other events.

The couple is also looking forward to Tom’s baseball season.

“Last year, I didn’t get to go to a single game,” Heidi said. “So, I said this year, I’m going to all the games.”

Grits and Groceries will continue to offer catering and will do monthly dinners. More information can be found on the website at http://gritsandgroceries.com

Grits and Groceries is calling all pie bakers to participate in a pie baking contest Aug. 19.(Photo: Courtesy of Grits and Groceries)